Faith had another MRI today (with and without contrast), as well as an MRV. These were ordered for the severe post-infusion headaches she’s having as they want to rule out a blockage in the blood vessels in her brain. Her headache pain is currently rated at a 6 on a 1-10 scale.

Her Immunoglobulin levels have dropped too low again; we’ll be at the hospital all week for another high dose IVIG infusion (# 11), running over 4 days this time, in hopes of decreasing the side effects.

She continues to struggle with the P.A.N.D.A.S. symptoms, most challenging the last couple years are the anxiety, emotional lability (strikes out of the blue) and obsessive bad thoughts, although there are many others. We hope this will dissipate as she heals (it takes up to two years with each exacerbation – this is # 3), as they have in the past.

She’s never had a full two years to heal as she has so many strep throat infections, that she winds up back at square one each fall/winter for the last three years every time she gets another one. Thus, she’s pulling out of this one more slowly than previously; however, we trust in God’s divine healing power.

Did I mention that we went Gluten Free in November… a week before Thanksgiving? Ha! It’s actually going quite well and we’ve had a lot of fun trying new things! I absolutely believe this alone has had a very positive impact, not only on the PANDAS, but on the migraines as well. Most PANDAS children struggle with rage, thrashing (severe tics… looks like a seizure, but if you’re familiar with those, the movements are different), unconscious episodes that can last up to several hours (and they do not remember afterward… a blessing as our kids are so guilt ridden). While Faith never had tantrums as a child; she has a severe case of PANDAS and experienced these episodes during her first two exacerbations… however, those have been completely absent this past year!! Praise the Lord for this blessing!!

Also, a young person dear to my heart has just been diagnosed with cancer and has started aggressive treatment for it.

I’ve been feeling the strain myself recently of too many medical challenges (and drama) in recent years, overwhelmed and tired. I’m sure I’ll be fine with God’s help, but I do need to make some changes to take better care of my own needs on a regular basis. I don’t tend to excel in that area.

ER… I suspect Faith has phlebitis or thrombophlebitis at IV site from IVIG infusion this week. I called our Peds after hours line & was told to bring her in to be evaluated. We just got home from Children’s Hospital around 1 am due to the side effects post-infusion. All three infusion days were about 14 hours … each. She remains in severe pain (rated at 9 on 1-10 scale) from the post-infusion headache.
#canmommysecureabedandsleep

Hubby has been working extended hours for work project; thankfully, the pressure on that seems to be easing now.

Prayers requested that this won’t be serious and for plenty of restorative sleep for all of us this weekend. We walk on faith that God holds us in His hands & take things moment by moment.

UPDATE: It is phlebitis, but thankfully, there is no blood clot. Rash on torso non-issue. Simple tx should resolve phlebitis at IV site within a few days. We’ll follow up with Ped to re-check in a few days. When Faith left the room for a few minutes, her nurse said she wanted to tell me that she noticed how elegant she is and how poised she carries herself… even with headache pain at a 9 on a 1-10 scale, she was still engaged with the ER staff and smiling… what a positive sign God gave me that healing is underway and her true personality is shining through.
#soblessed!

It’s been a long week … construction right outside our window here, cut her rate in half… helped a lot with headache, but took hours longer to run. I anticipate it will take even longer today.
Headache started spiking as she went to bed … hate to wake her. I’m feeling drained & weary from all the traveling … need rest. Hubby also working very long hours. We’re all exhausted. We’ll be home tonight & praying it’s a quiet weekend for all of us.
Faith is in a strong push to complete half a year of missed content (due to illnesses) and take state tests, starting next week; I’m overseeing that and helping her through it. Please pray she is well enough to do this.
Please pray for us… for stamina, good spirits, good rest and peace… and for all these issues to resolve smoothly.
UPDATE: Infusion is running, headache at 7-8 (I had her nurse give an anti-inflammatory, hoping that will help as nothing else is helping), we will only go up to half of max rate today, which we hope will help with the several days of post-infusion side effects (severe headaches & vomiting) she has been having. Here’s a pic of today – PANDAS girls can change the world!!! All PANDAS-PITAND boys & girls can… and I believe, will change the world!!! These children are amazing & have enormous intelligence, tenacity and courage!!

High dose IVIG Infusion # 10 starts today (Tuesday, May 15) & will hopefully, be done by Thursday evening. She’s in good spirits, after being able to participate in her worship dance recital last night.

We’ve been making dietary adjustments. We removed gluten in mid-November 2011 and her migraines (that were severe, not responding to medication & were the catalyst for two back to back hospitalizations at the time) improved three weeks later… to the day. She does still get them sometimes, but they respond to medication now. Also, since going gluten free, we’ve lost count of how many times we’ve walked out the door and found that it’s raining. This is of huge significance for both of us as our migraines have always been so strongly triggered by weather that I stopped checking weather years ago, since my migraines were a more reliable predictor that rain was on the way.

Because she had a dairy intolerance as an infant, I also removed dairy from her diet a few weeks ago as a trial to see if it helps – like gluten, removing dairy does help a lot of kids with neuro-immuno issues. I also started her on daily green smoothies… and… the Blendtec Total blender (with the new Wildside jar) my husband ordered for me just arrived!!! This is a pic of one similar to ours… and yes, we’re blending most, if not all (& more!) of the items you see in the pic in our green smoothies:

I was only able to use it one time before we headed to the hospital last night for her infusion today. The blend was amazingly smooth!! It was neat to see how much smoother than our regular blender was. What a delicious way to eat our greens & other nutrition! The last couple of weeks, I’m seeing her slowly start to improve… she still has a way to go, but we’re thankful for all improvements, no matter how small. 🙂

I’ll try to check in later… prayers are very appreciated that this infusion will go well as she has consistently been having severe headaches (sometimes with vomiting and fever) that last for nearly a week following these infusions.

Thank you for following her story and praying for her and our family… you’re each a blessing to our family!

High dose IVIG # 9 for Faith’s PANDAS and Immune Deficiency will be this Mon-Weds (April 16-19). Due to the reactions (severe headaches lasting days & sometimes unresponsive to meds, fever and vomiting) Faith had following the last two infusions, we’re changing to a different medication and running it over three days, instead of the usual two days.

We’re also getting back some of the labs we recently ran (and running more this coming week) and finding some answers there as well. Although one never wants to have positive results to these labs, it’s good that we are tracking down the problems, so that they can be addressed and hopefully, help in her healing. The most notable one is we’ve learned that she has diminished ability to clear certain toxins from her body due to alterations in her methylation cycle. We’re hopeful that we are closing in on this one and anticipate it will be easily corrected…. nice that something is likely to be simple, so we’re thankful for that.

Prayers are appreciated that this one will go better and help her heal… speaking of which, please also pray for good sleep as she’s not been resting very well lately and sleep is crucial to brain healing.

Thanks so much; your prayers and support sustain us as God guides our every step.

We spent 6 hours at Urgent Care this evening, due to severe headache and nausea following Faith’s high dose IVIG infusions (for P.A.N.D.A.S. and Immune Deficiency) Mon-Tues of this week.

Medications and fluids are not helping the severe headache or nausea, which has been ongoing since Tuesday evening. Her case is very complex and challenging, with multiple diagnoses.

We are now home and hoping the meds and fluids will work as she sleeps to decrease her symptoms… if not, we’re most likely headed head back to Children’s hospital in the morning.

Please continue praying for the severe headache and nausea to subside without further intervention and for good rest… for all of us as we’ve been in and out of the hospital all week and I am beyond exhausted at this point. ♥

We arrived safely yesterday. Both flights were delayed; we were actually fortunate that the second flight was delayed because we may have missed it due to the delay of the first flight. Faith was able to sleep a little while on the first flight, which was good because she still needs a lot of sleep so her body and brain can heal.
We were ready for lunch when we arrived. Faith had never been Times Square, so we went there for lunch and ate at Bubba Gump’s – amazingly great service! She was excited to see ‘everything’ … especially the electronic ads and the ferris wheel in Toys R Us… until she realized there was not enough time for her to ride it. 😦 Otherwise, it was a fun, quick hour for her.

Times Square

Unfortunately, the pool was closed, so she was unable to swim as she’d hoped. Instead, we met another PANDAS mom and her daughter (a few years younger than Faith) so the girls could bowl.
We were up early this morning to have breakfast and get ready for her appointment first thing this morning.
The first half of her infusion went pretty well today. She slept for about an hour. She had only a slight increase in her headache today. We were better prepared in reference to hydrating her well and the wonderful nurses at the infusion center ran her IVIG slower to decrease risk of headache & nausea and also are utilizing medication to help manage symptoms… so far, that is working great. She is not having any increased nausea at this point… just the typical headache, sore throat and nausea that she usually has with strep throat.
Oh… and Vigi (her IGIV blue bear) got a new outfit today, complete with a flower for her hair and matching boots! I made it from the sticky wrap they used to secure Faith’s IV line. 😉

Vigi

We are both so tired… Mommy might be even more tired than Faith… might have to nap today in order to get through tomorrow.
We appreciate your continued prayers.